Germany Terminates Surveillance Deal With USA Over NSA Spying Scandal

The German Foreign Office has taken a rather dramatic political move and terminated a surveillance pact that it had signed with the USA, the UK and France back in the Cold War era. Germany had previously demanded answers from the NSA about the information revealed by Edward Snowden. Since the USA failed to give Germany the answers that it wanted Germany terminated the surveillance pact with the USA.

Der Spiegel reports that Germany’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle gave the announcement in which he claims such a move was necessary and proper. It also comes as a consequence of the recent debate in Germany about the protection of personal data and the privacy of its citizens.

The act was signed back in the late 1960s and it allowed the USA, the UK and France the right to request that German authorities conduct surveillance operations within Germany and share details of surveillance with them. The cancellation measure is symbolic, because the NSA will continue to conduct surveillance on Germany regardless, but it does signal a political shift within Germany that other European nations might follow. The signs of dissent towards American hegemony are beginning to show more broadly as the NSA scandal continues to expose new revelations every week.